Trying to focus...

[susandennis]

My appointment is for 1:30 so I'm trying to think that by 2:30, I'll know the detail on what horror awaits. I'm assuming he'll look today and then offer me totally unintelligible* options all of which involve multiple visits, much pain and many $$ and none of which will be the magic fix. But, I'll pick one and we'll set a date and then I can start stressing for real. Ha!

*Is a root canal better than a crown or a bridge or a xxx and which option will ensure I do not have to see him again for a really really really long time, etc. This last one, of course, works against his business model, a point not lost on me.

The pain is still very intermittent. I can't cause it to hurt and I can't know when it will. Chewing is a crap shoot. Chewing hot stuff seems to make it hurt more than chewing non hot stuff but not always and not consistently but enough so that I avoid the chewing. Drinking hot stuff like coffee does not seem to bother it at all nor does eating or drinking cold stuff. Or pressing on it with my tongue. Very weird.

Happily, some work just came in so I can now see if I can forget this for just a tiny bit.

Comments

I feel your pain!

[joyoflj.livejournal.com]

I have had both root canal and crown. Since I am such a big chicken I stressed out majorly both times. And both times afterwards I wondered WHY I allowed myself to get so stressed out.

this is because there must be new pain killing stuff out that they swab on you before they insert the novo. For I barely felt the needle and years ago I remember thinking I might faint.

Then, talk about NUMB! The key is for the dentist to be patient and WAIT for the numbness to kick in. If the dentist is rough or a jerk you can do what I did once and just remove the bib and LEAVE. Tough for them!

For a root canal they take out the nerve. Wiggly spagetti shaped thing. Then they insert something in the root's place that is supposed to last forever. My tooth discolored so in the end I was not so happy. Turned darker. My hand dug into the chair for NOTHING for it never hurt after the novo, natch.

With the crown they numbed me up and then ground down the tooth to gumline. Never felt a hint of pain. Next they took numerous molds of my teeth. Then they glue temp crowns on. Worked like teeth. All the sensitivity I had to cold GONE. What relief.

In a few weeks the crowns came in. Porcelain. Looks, feels and chomps like my own. And they made the tooth shape fill in a space I did not like.

From MY experience, I prefer the crown. Done with unless it ever comes unglued. Wth the root canal, decay can still occur.

No knowledge of bridges.

Re: I feel your pain!

[susandennis]

Oh you are so kind and full of info. Thank you. I just so want this to be over!

Interesting that there is much of the process I do not mind. I don't mind the needle, for instance. Or the chair going back. I do mind the noise and the smell and the not knowing what's going to happen or how long it will take to be over and I really really really do mind the pain :)

ARUGH. I am truly hoping to be run over by a truck before I get there. But, with my luck it will be after I leave there!

[nitemirror.livejournal.com]

I can't comment about having a crown. Besides Joy covered the topic well. I'll just add that the biggest problem I had with my root canal was dealing with the bill -- Took me over a year of monthly payments.

[howeird]

Saw your latest post, glad the tension bomb appears to be de-fused.

I have a crown and a crown on a root canal, and a bridge. I'm an expert. :-)

I have not gone for sedation for a lot of reasons, but pain is not one of them. My dentists have always been good about making it painless, and understanding that it takes 3x the normal dosage of numbing juice to kill the nerves in my mouth. The sound of the drill makes me go all tense, and I think it is in the DNA, like vacuum cleaner phobia is in the DNA of felines.

So, in plain English:
- A root canal is an operation which removes the root-shaped nerve from inside the tooth & jaw.

- A crown is a partial tooth replacement. The tooth is chopped off a little above the gum line, what's left is leveled out, and a ceramic artificial tooth is glued to it.
It is not uncommon for a crown to cap a root canal.

- A bridge is a piece of metal with plastic teeth mounted on plastic gums. It snaps into the empty space(s) where teeth have been extracted. Most bridges are removable.

- There are also tooth implants, where a hole is drilled where the extracted tooth used to be, a post is glued into the hole and a ceramic tooth is glued to the post. It's an expensive process not usually covered by insurance.

[susandennis]

I was thinking about it today and realize that while the pain is not that much fun, I think it's as much the process and the not knowing when it will end and the whole package that is just beyond my ability to cope. And, when I did do the sedation thing, it was so good - so much better - just nod off and wake up when it's over.